1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a medical balloon catheter.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, medical balloon catheters include a tube extending in a lengthwise direction, a balloon bonded to one of opposite ends of the tube that undergoes expansion and contraction in response to the adjustment of internal pressure, and a connector fixed to the other end of the tube and connected with, for instance, a syringe injecting a substance via the tube.
Such balloon catheters are designed so that the balloon is inserted into an internal blood vessel, internal tissue, or a bone lumen in a contracted state, and then is expanded. Thus, the internal blood vessel, the internal tissue, or the bone lumen is dilated.
Meanwhile, the tube is provided therein with two passages extending in a lengthwise direction thereof. A guide wire is inserted into one of these two passages. The guide wire serves not only to reinforce stiffness of the tube and prevent the tube from being arbitrarily bent when the tube is inserted into the human body, but also allows the tube to be guided into the human body. The other of the two passages communicates with the interior of the balloon and is configured so that a fluid pressurizing the interior of the balloon flows therethrough.
Since the tube of this balloon catheter must be separately provided with the passage into which the guide wire is inserted and the passage through which a substance for dilating the balloon flows, it is not easy to manufacture the balloon catheter.
Further, since an insertion port into which the guide wire is inserted and an injection port into which a material for expanding the balloon is injected must be separately formed in the connector connected to the other end of the tube, the connector has a complicated structure. Further, the diameter of the tube is increased, and thus a patient experiences pain when the tube is inserted into the interior of the body. In a process of manufacturing the balloon catheter, a process of connecting the insertion and injection ports of the connector with the two passages of the tube respectively is complicated.
In particular, this balloon catheter must insert the guide wire having higher stiffness than the tube into the passage of the tube in order to enable a surgeon to insert the tube formed of flexible material into the interior of the body, so that the surgeon must separately deal with the tube and the guide wire.